Season 2, Episode 84 of The Terrible Podcast is up and with David Todd and I jump right into talking about the franchise tags handed out around the league on Monday and talk briefly about the New Orleans Saints placing the tag on quarterback Drew Brees in light of the recent Bounty Gate investigation surfacing. We move on to discuss the expected decision of the Pittsburgh Steelers to not franchise wide receiver Mike Wallace and what we think may play out with him the rest of the way. We talk about the leverage that the Steelers still have with Wallace moving forward with the first round restricted tender and how the now contract that Buffalo Bills wide receiver Stevie Johnsonreceived on Monday, combined with the tags applied to a few other of the most notable unrestricted free agent wide receivers, plays into all of this. David and I have a pretty good banter about all of this, but both of us remain committed to our beliefs that Wallace will be back in a Steelers uniform in 2012.

Speaking of wide receivers, we move on to the comments made on Tuesday by Plaxico Burress. Burress said during the interview that he is indeed open to returning to the Steelers in 2012 and he named Ben Roethlisberger as his favorite quarterback. We talk about the chances of that actually happening, which are not many in our opinion. We both stand by our belief that Jerricho Cotchery would be a much better option than Burress. Now that Hines Ward is gone, we discuss whether or not any team will take a chance on him. David points out the huge pool of unrestricted free agent wide receivers again that will be on the market and what, if any, teams might sign him.

We continue on by talking about the recent video statement made by Lynn Swann that addressed the release of Ward and how Steeler Nation should respect the decision made by the organization to do so. I was more intrigued by the self portrait had behind him during the video statement and unfortunately David had not seen that. Perhaps I was the only one that was amused by it, but amused I was.

We circle back around to the Bounty Gate investigation of the Saints and start pondering what type of discipline they will incur in the future. Are we morally insulted by it all? Are any of you? We also talk about how Ryan Clark has been front in center getting his opinion out on all of it and how we think that is not such a good idea to do. Maybe you disagree.

We wrap up the show by talking briefly about the other upcoming restricted tender decisions that the Steelers will have to make by early next week and I try one last time to get David to look at the picture of Swann unsuccessfully.

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Oh man. Did Todd just jinx us by crowing about being right about Mike Wallace and Free agency before free agency even starts?

I sure hope the Steelers don’t threaten Wallace as you mentioned. Wallace has been totally upstanding and never threatened holding out or anything. He deserves nothing but respect no matter where he decides to sign. The Steelers have had years to extend him and they cannot come in days before free agency and expect him to accept a lowball offer before even looking at the market.

He has always said he would play out his deal and never hold out because the money would be there when his time came. He should be saluted for that and the front office should reward him with respect if they don’t feel like a financial reward fits their model. I’m sure they will.

Gevins

Good job guys I enjoyed it.

Jabsosteel

Dave, to your point about the inability to draw moral outrage about Bounty Gate, I’m left somewhat confused by your angle. While I agree that it is an inherent part of the game, I think that you’re underselling the fact that the nexus of William’s indiscretions was actually paying guys for the hits. To covertly, verbally praise the guys individually might be deemed acceptable for their aggressive style (with a wink and a nod by the league), it’s the actual monetary compensation on a hit-by-hit basis that has gotten them into the hot water that they’re in. Not to speak of the fact that giving guys $1,500 bonuses for such hits when most are making hundreds of thousands per game, seems like a pittance and hardly weighty enough to have been worth all of the risk of being caught engaging in the practice, no?